WESTFORD -- When volunteers for Avery Rockwell Adam's campaign for School Committee suggested she set up a GoFundMe page to raise money, she was surprised by the results.

The volunteers told her, "in today's technology, they don't always have time to write a check and, 'If we can just click somewhere, it would make it a lot easier for us,'" Adam said.

"I wanted to use PayPal, but we ran into complications putting it on our Facebook page. GoFundMe allows you to put those two together. I set those up, and instantly, we had people donating," she added.

While no one else in Westford, or even the whole of the state, has set up a page on the crowdfunding site for his or her campaign for municipal election this season, fundraising in this manner is cropping up around the country and is perfectly legal under Massachusetts law.

According to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, there's no law specifically governing the collection of money through websites. As long as general rules are followed, it's allowed.

"When we look at committees or candidates using these vendors to collect money, we automatically think of one thing -- disclosure," OCPF spokesman Jason Tait said. "Different types of fundraising that spawns from new technologies is always looked at by our office when candidates begin to use them, just to make sure that it's complying with the law."

Tait said, for example, that state Rep. Dan Winslow, a Norfolk Republican, ran a fundraising campaign successfully through Groupon.com in 2011.

Advertisement

Under existing laws, any contribution that is larger than $50 must be recorded with the donor's name and address, which these sites allow.

GoFundMe.com has an option for donors to put their credit cards into the website to give anonymously as well. So far, however, Adam has not had any donations of that kind.

She's running in the Westford School Committee race for one of two three-year seats against incumbents Erika Kohl and Chairman David Keele. Adam had raised $300 through GoFundMe in a little more than 20 days, and all seven donors' names at that time were listed publicly on her page.

Adam is one of about 50 politicians on GoFundMe across the country trying to raise money through the site.

Timothy Schaiberger in West Branch, Mich., launched a GoFundMe page for his campaign as an independent candidate for state representative in fall 2013. He ultimately raised $235 of a $50,000 goal, but said he stopped when he became concerned about whether his state laws would allow such transactions.

"Crowdsourcing has been a very easy thing to set up and I just don't want to break any rules so until I know more, no more fundraising through GoFundMe right now," Schaiberger wrote in an email to The Sun.

David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said the influence of money -- whether online or elsewhere -- is an effect voters must always consider in an election. Thanks to state laws, Paleologos said voters can view who makes contributions to a local candidate and decide from there if that person is a good fit for their community.

"Reporters, others, have the ability to report (donations) and let people decide," Paleologos said. "... Other candidates can point out those issues in public debates, too, and say, 'Why did this group give you $1 million?"

In Adam's case, he said "voters can look and say, 'Hmm, not for my town,' or, 'More power to her. She went out there. She was creative and she thought out of the box.'"

Paleologos said online fundraising has been beneficial to state and national candidates across the aisle, playing a large role in the election of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and President Barack Obama.

Andrew Hemingway, a Republican candidate for governor in New Hampshire, along with Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott, have announced this month they'll be accepting so-called bitcoins for their respective campaigns. Hemingway said in a press release that this kind of fundraising shows his "innovative" thinking.

"Whether it is on my campaign, or as governor, I believe in trying something new to see if it's effective," Hemingway wrote in a press release. "We cannot be afraid of doing things differently."

Adam said that for her crowdfunding campaign, she is aware of the limitations through the state OCPF's guidelines. She said that in this day and age, one could run an entire campaign online, too, but she doesn't want to lose the human touch. She's still looking to reach Westford voters on a personal level, too.

"I thought about not doing a postcard mailing and just doing an e-vite, but I think you lose a little bit in that, doing everything electronically," she said. "You have to make sure you're covering your bases."

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.